Introduction: On 22 October 1993 Steve Powley and his son, both members of a Metis community near Sault Ste. Marie, were charged with hunting a moose without a licence and with knowingly possessing game hunted in contravention of Ontario's Game and Fish Act. The Powleys were acquitted at trial...

Introduction: On April 17, 1982, the Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada were recognized and affirmed in the Canadian constitution. In the following years, several First Ministers' conferences were held to address Aboriginal constitutional matters. A recurring topic...

Professors Asch and Bell argue that Aboriginal title litigation presents a unique set of evidentiary problems both for Aboriginal plaintiffs and the courts. The elements of proof of title are themselves imbued with an ethnocentrism which serves to ignore Aboriginal systems of land ownership and...

Introduction: The topic of repatriation of cultural items creates some discomfort as it may generate polarized perspectives and bring into focus issues of intercultural understanding, ethics, law, politics, knowledge, power, values, and economics. Questions such as “Who owns culture? Whose...

Introduction: For many aboriginal peoples in Canada the concept of aboriginal rights includes a right to exercise control over cultural property.' To date, the assertion of this right has, in most cases, been limited to extra-judicial negotiation. For example, modern land claims agreements such...

Issues around defining respectful relationships, and within those relationships, reconciling laws and values concerning use and control of intangible Indigenous heritage, arise in numerous museum contexts including : repatriation of material culture and associated information ; co-management of...

In this article, the author explores the need for a theory of Aboriginal rights broad enough to include all of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. She examines recent developments in judicial recognition of the constitutional rights of the Metis people since their inclusion in s. 35(l) of the...

ABSTRACT. As a result of increasedaboriginaldemands, museumsand govemments are reassessing their roles as guardians of various forms of cultural property. However, an underlyingpresumption in thisprocessis thatastrictlegalanalysisofownershipwill notfavour aboriginalownershipof the...